Previous updates

April 2024

This release includes the following:

• Assessments and grading

  • Duplicate questions in tests, assignments, forms and question banks
  • Question default point value changed from 10 to 1 - this means any newly created questions will have a default point value of 1. This change helps reduce the need for manual adjustments.
  • Flexible grading improvements:
    • Multiple attempts is available at the top of the page.
    • Override grade displays the original grade as well as the overwritten grade.
    • The submission receipt for the selected attempt displays beneath the attempt selector.

• Gradebook

  • Progress Mark included in Gradebook Download
    

• Content

  • Persistent navigation for Learning Modules - this means even when you have a long scrolling page, the forward and backward navigtion persists at the top of the page.

• Engagement
  • Anonymous Discussions
  • Self-Enrollment Group Improvement: Self-enrollment groups provide an important part of student autonomy throughout the learning experience. When creating self-enrollment groups, the maximum members per group is reduced from 2 to 1.

March 2024

This release includes the following:

Announcements
Mark announcements as read or unread.

Assessments
No due date setting.

Due dates are an important aspect of the teaching and learning process. In some scenarios, such as self-paced learning, an instructor may not want to apply a due date. To make the option for not having a due date more evident, we've added a "No due date" option for Tests and Assignments.

Flexible Grading
Last used view state of flexible grading side panels preserved.

Instructors want to configure the grading interface according to their preferences. In flexible grading, instructors can collapse or expand the left panel (student cards) and right panel (feedback and rubrics). To provide a better user experience, the last used state is preserved in the browser.

Navigating between student attempts and across sessions provides a more efficient experience.

Gradebook item statistics
When the Head of Department asks for statistics of your latest assessment, you can access the statistics on the Grid view in the Gradebook.

Student Activity on Tests
Send messages to students from the Student Activity report for assessments on small and medium devices and the mobile app:

1. Access the Blackboard Learn app.

2. Open the course.

3. Go to test on the Course Conent page.

4. Click on the elipses (three dots).

5. Click on Student Activity.
   

6. Click on the elipses (three dots) of the student you want to message.

7. Click on Send a Message to....
   

Turnitin
You will now also be able to copy previously created Turnitin assignments. Read more ....

February 2024

This release includes the following:

Missed due dates are available in Analytics on the Course Activity Report.

Grading with Rubrics will now remember your selection to show or hide the level descriptors.

Send Reminders - if there are release conditions on the assessment, you will not be able to send reminders.

Forms - this is a first phase implementation of a tool with which to get information from students (almost like a survey). There is a likert type question available for forms. Watch this space!

January 2024

This release includes the following:

• Assessments and grading

  • Attempt Logs
  • Flexible Grading - Multiple Attempt Aggregation

• Gradebook

  • Additional total and weighted columns in the Gradebook
  • Category Information Columns within Gradable Items Page

• Content

  • Batch Edit -Date and Time settings
  • Improved visibility state for content items with release conditions
  • Unused File Cleanup Tool

December 2023

This release includes the following:

• Assessments and grading

  • Large Rubric Support
  • Group assessment variable due dates
  • Update on multiple-answer question type
  • Flexible grading – sort

• Gradebook

  • Gradebook Grid view sorting - on all columns

November 2023:

This release includes the following:

• Assessments and grading
  • Flexible Grading: Anonymous Grading
  • Flexible Grading: Grading optimisation for file-based Assignment submissions
  • Flexible Grading: Edit/Regrade in Questions view
• Gradebook
  • Gradebook Grid view sorting
  • Gradebook Grid view performance improvements
• Course & Content Design
  • Image insertion for Ultra Documents, Journals prompts and responses, Discussions prompts andresponses, Course Messages, Assessment attempt question editor inputs for students
  • Reposition focus and change aspect ratio of inserted images

October 2023

This release includes the following:

• Assessments and grading
  • Delegated grading distribution by group membership
  • Partial credit auto-distribution for correct answers for Multiple Choice questions
  • Anonymous comments in Bb Annotate
• Gradebook
  • Sorting controls for manually added gradable Items
  • Send Reminder from Gradebook list and grid views
• Analytics
  • Last access course alert default set to 15 days
  • Student Activity report for Assessments enhancements for small devices and the Mobile app
• Content
  • Edit Settings for Partner Cloud Content Items

September 2023

During September a lot of AI tools were made available. The following were switched on for UP:

• Learning Module image integration options
• Rubric generation
• Test question generation
• Question Bank generation from Learn Ultra Documents
• Course banner images from Unsplash
• Flexible Grading on tablets
• Auto-captioning for video and audio feedback

Read more ....

August 2023

• Display Changes:
  • Groups in the top navigation bar and Group Spaces
  • Unread Message indicator
  • Course Banner image improvements
  • Learning Module image
• Assessment and Grading:
  • List View: Increased visibility of Gradebook ‘Move Item’ icon
  • Grid View: New default cell status in grid view
  • Grid View: Bulk download of anonymous submissions
  • Flexible Grading
  • Assessment Submission Receipt improvements
• Data and analytics
  • Students with alert flags in the Course Activity report
• Groups
  • Moved to the top
  • Group Messaging improvements
• Communications & social engagement
  • Course status indicators

Read more ...

Previous updates

Access this link to view earlier updates. Click on the month to view the updates for that month.